KEEP A PLACE FOR ME // Wilbur Soot X Reader

20

The stream ended up being three hours, and you stayed for all of it - which was probably not good for your work schedule, but you had really  needed a break this week, and sitting in Wilbur's office watching dumb videos was the perfect opportunity to take one.

You didn't understand how he thought his chat wasn't funny - 70% of the videos they sent in had you desperately trying to hold in your laughter while Wilbur sat next to you, unaffected. Maybe it was a testament to how little you were on the social internet - it seemed he had seen these hundreds of times, while for you it was the first. It probably also had to do with your sense of humor, if you were being honest.

Or maybe part of it was that Wilbur was there, making snide comments that made you laugh even more than the videos themselves. It was hard not to steal glances at him every opportunity you had, but the constant reminder that you were broadcasting to thousands of people kept you at bay - you wouldn't want your accidental crush to be revealed to Wilbur's fans, lest they tell him. 

Being in the same room with him for three hours made it hard to remember that you were just going to let the feelings die on their own. You kept waiting for him to say something or do something that you would find rude or crass, but he never did. Even his humor was impeccable, it seemed, and it made him all the more attractive. 

It made it so much harder to convince yourself that pursuing him would be a waste of your time.

Unfortunately though, not every day could be filled with laughter and watching Wilbur's curls bounce when he tilted his head. The weekend was filled with phone calls, back and forth to the magazine, arranging deadlines and pieces since the changes they'd made on Tuesday had thrown a wrench into everything. It wasn't how you'd hoped to spend the weekend, but there was a silver lining - on Saturday night Maddy insisted you come see a movie with her. 

She'd been wanting to see it for a long time, and even though high-fantasy wasn't exactly your favorite, a few hours break was well deserved. 

Getting back to the office on Monday was both a relief and dreaded - the pressing anxiety of that interviewee that had called to say they couldn't do the interview anymore was a problem that you could fix, but you really didn't want to spend valuable time sorting through all those books of numbers and documents of business cards again. 

You dashed inside from the car- hood pulled up over your ears to protect from the cold - and waved to Oscar as you passed his office. He was having his morning cup of tea and he smiled as you waved. 

You reached your own office and unlocked the door, letting your bag down on the desk and ducking down to switch on the space heater and get some heat in the room. You would prefer to spend your day stressing in a comfortable temperature, thank you very much.

As your office started to reach a suitable temperature, you shrugged off your coat and draped it over the back of your chair before sitting down and turning your computer on, letting it come back to life from a long sleep over the weekend. As it worked, you pulled out your phone, opening your notes app to where you had saved a few numbers you wanted to try before you spent hours finding another interview source today.

Hopefully one of them would say yes.

You dialed the first one and pressed the phone to your ear, spinning around in your chair as you heard the phone ring on the other end of the line. As it had taken to over the weekend, your mind drifted to Wilbur. 

Maybe you would see him today... you would have to tell him that you had a nice time doing that You Laugh You Lose again. It had been just what you needed last week...

The other end of the line picked up. "Hello?"

You snapped back to reality. "Hi. I'm Y/N L/N, I'm calling about a possible interview for ROUND & About Magazine for an article featuring companies taking a more active role in being environmentally aware."

"Oh." The woman on the other end of the line said. "Would it be alright if I patch you through to Mr. Thompson? You might have to hold for a moment, but he'll be able to help you more."

"That's fine." You said. "Thank you."

The woman hummed, and hold music started to play over the line. You gazed up and around at the walls of your office as you waited, your eyes falling on the wall between you and Wilbur. 

Maybe you should invite him to lunch one day or something... just to repay him for being so kind, of course. There was that little sandwich place down the road... maybe there...

The hold music ended, and someone picked up the line. "Hello?"

"Hello." You said. "I'm Y/N L/N, I'm calling about a possible interview for ROUND & About Magazine for an article featuring companies taking a more active role in being environmentally aware - someone patched me through to you, they said you would be able to help me."

"Oh, yes." He said. "I'm sure we can find you you someone to interview - we would love to be featured in something like that. It would be quite good, since we recently put some new measures into place to be more environmentally friendly, and that sort of thing..."

You smiled to yourself. First try - it had been easier to find a replacement than you thought. You settled in as the man started going through a list of people you could possibly talk to, giving the criteria for what you needed. 

It was a good interview. 

Strangely, there wasn't a single interruption from the other side of the wall.